Ricardo Christie has had the ideal buildup for his debut in the big time this weekend.
Should Hawke's Bay surfer Ricardo Christie achieve world champion status his life story will make a cracker of a film.
Mahia's Christie, who will make his debut on the World Surf League's Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour in the Quicksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks, Queensland this weekend, would be able to promote almost the entire length of New Zealand in the film.
He was 6 when his mother Huhana left Dunedin 20 years ago, piling the kids in a car and heading towards Wairoa in search of whanau. Instead, the carload found nearby Mahia Peninsula.
"I think mum missed a turnoff and found this place called Mahia," Christie told the New Zealand Herald in December as he recalled his introduction to the sport after qualifying for the world tour.
"My brother Danny, who was 12 and already a sponsored surfer, saw a guy surfing and wanted to live there. Mum said we could give it a try and we did," he recalled.
Christie was 8 when Danny pushed him into the waves on a board. Christie was impressed by the stickers on the board as well as the boxes of sponsored clothes his brother had.
"Heaps of Danny's mates would stay and they were having so much fun, which inspired me to do the same. And anything I do, I just want to get better and better. I'm quite obsessive. I was the same playing rugby as a kid," he recalled.
Obviously someone will have to be found to play Christie and other members of his whanau during the early parts of a film. Footage of Christie in action can be used for recent years and the future including the Quiksilver Pro, which continues until March 11.
Christie will be the first Kiwi to contest the men's world tour since Gisborne's Maz Quinn in 2002. He can't be accused of having a lack of preparation for his debut.
Christie has spent the past two weeks on the Gold Coast surfing the Snapper Rocks break and becoming familiar with the wave. Snapper Rocks is a sand bottom, right hand point break, offering up perfect, long waves, which many suggest will suit Christie's surfing.
The two-week stint at Snapper meant Christie bypassed the two Australian qualifying series events, a conscious decision to make sure he was "ready for Snapper 110 per cent."
Christie will be up against the top 32 surfers in the world " names like 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, of the United States, and defending event and world champion Gabriel Medina, of Brazil.
The first challenge is to contest his round one match-up which includes Tahiti's world No5 Michel Bourez and Hawaii's world No20 Sebastian Zietz.
"It's going to be epic fun, those boys rip so hard and we are good friends" Christie said.
"Hopefully we all get some good waves and the best surfer on the day comes out on top" he said from his base on the Gold Coast.
The winner from Christie's first heat progresses directly into the third round, while the losers get another life in the second round, and a chance to advance further through the draw.
After the drawn out qualification process late in 2014, Christie spent a month at home hanging with his whanau. He then relocated to Bali to maximise his water time and surf off the "Christmas belly" as he called it. It was also a perfect time to test new equipment and "get in the flow".
"I've been continuing my usual routine, surfing 'til I drop, lots of flexibility work and, since being on the Gold Coast, I've been working with Wes Berg, who has worked with Parko (2012 world champion Joel Parkinson) for a number of years. That has been cool," Christie said.
Christie admitted there is pressure and it is building but most of that he considers being his own pressure on himself to do his absolute best.